The hotel occupies three townhouses on a Georgian crescent and consists of five levels (lower ground floor, ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor). The townhouses are Grade II listed and the hotel has no lifts (elevators). We are a non-smoking establishment.

BOOKING

PaymentA valid credit card or debit card is required to make a booking. We run a pre-authorization on your card for the amount of the first night's stay but you are not charged until you arrive. If you wish, you may pay with an alternative method upon arrival. Please note American Express carries a 3% surcharge.

Terms and Conditions/Cancellation PolicyReservations must be cancelled 48 hours prior to arrival, to avoid a penalty charge of the first night's stay. This policy also applies to guests who are already staying at the hotel and change their travel plans. In case of a ‘no show’ the first night's accommodation will be charged.

Group BookingsIf you require more than five rooms, please e-mail us a detailed request to info@mentonehotel.com. Please note that rates, terms and conditions, and cancellation policy may change based on group booking.

HISTORY

Built in 1810 by James Burton Esq., Cartwright Gardens was originally named Burton Crescent and is part of an estate owned by the City Guild of Skinners. Cartwright Gardens has a tradition of progressivism and was renamed in honour of Major John Cartwright (resident between 1820-24), the political reformer who campaigned for universal suffrage, vote by the ballot, annual parliaments and the abolition of slavery. There is some suggestion that the renaming may have been prompted by the unsolved Burton Crescent murder of Rachel Samuel. Among the Crescent's other notable residents were Sir Rowland Hill (1837-39), originator of the penny postage system, Edwin Chadwick, the social reformer who fought the water companies to provide Londoners with clean water and Sidney Smith (1835-39), who was an Anglican clergyman and philosopher who protested the restrictions on Roman Catholics.

Bloomsbury has a significant literary tradition and Cartwright Gardens figures prominently in it. In Trollope's The Small House at Allington, John Eames lodges in Cartwright Gardens and is the object of the landlady's daughter's affection. Cartwright Gardens features in the writings of the contemporary French poet and mathematician, Jacques Roubaud. In The Cartwright Gardens Murder (J S Fletcher), a resident of Cartwright Gardens witnesses a man collapse and die from poisoning and embarks on a search for the murderer, with not entirely honourable intentions.